LUKE O’DONNELL IN PROFILE

Following the announcement that Australian International back-row forward Luke O’Donnell has signed a four year deal to join the Huddersfield Giants from 2011, giantsrl.com takes a look at the 29 year olds career to date.

O’Donnell was born in Liverpool, New South Wales on the 22nd November 1980 and made his first foray into the sport with junior club Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs. His breakthrough in Australia’s NRL competition came with Balmain Tigers, as they faced Sydney Roosters at the famous Leichardt Oval ground in Round 22 of the 1999 campaign.

The creation of the Balmain club’s joint venture with Western Suburbs to form the Wests Tigers club in 2000, co-incided with O’Donnell’s elevation to a first grade regular as he featured in 27 games and scored two tries.

A further 44 games followed for the Tigers before a move to play for North Queensland Cowboys prior to the 2004 season ensured he teamed up with current Giant David Faiumu in Townsville.

His debut season for the Cowboys was followed by their most successful campaign in recent history as they reached the 2005 Grand Final. O’Donnell’s opponents on that occasion were his former club Wests Tigers who contained a familiar face in Giants skipper Brett Hodgson.

The Tigers took the silverware by 30-16 however the hard hitting back-rower’s stellar season was recognised as he was selected to represent the green and gold’s of Australia in the Tri-Nations tournament, winning the first of his ten caps.

State honours followed for O’Donnell with the New South Wales Blues in 2006 and he was also a part of the Kangaroo’s 2006 Tri-Nations squad who won the tournament on home soil.

2007 saw O’Donnell sidelines following a serious hamstring injury however he bounced back in 2008 and was named in Australia’s preliminary squad prior to the 2008 World Cup held down under as a result of an excellent end to the season with Neil Henry’s Cowboys side.

Last season was saw him figure prominently in the New South Wales side which was unable to overturn Queensland’s dominance in the State of Origin series and he was also named as the Cowboys ‘Player of the Year’ and ‘Players Player of the Year’ on the back of an outstanding campaign.

2010 to date has seen the hard-hitting star play seventeen times for the Cowboys with an impressive strike rate of five tries. He was chosen to start game two of the State of Origin series at Second-Row forward; however he served a three match ban following a fiery clash for his part in a spear tackle and subsequent mass brawl, as the Blues succumbed to their Maroon rivals.

He is now back from suspension and determined to finish the season with the Cowboys as strongly as possible, prior to joining the claret and gold. In fact, only this weekend O’Donnell inspired his Cowboys side with two tries and a man of the match performance as they defeated Newcastle Knights by 28-24 in the NRL Round 20 clash.

Luke O’Donnell

Date of birth: October 22, 1980.
Place of birth: Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia.
Height: 186cm (6ft 1in)
Weight: 102kg (16st 1lb)
Position: Back-Row forward
Representative honours: City Origin (1 appearance), New South Wales (5 appearances), Australia (10 Test matches).
Previous clubs: Balmain, Wests Tigers.

Career Statistics
Games: 165
Interchange: 32
Tries: 26
Goals: 0
Drop-Goals: 0
Points: 96

Engage Super League Round 24
Huddersfield Giants v Wakefield Wildcats
Sunday 1st August, kick off 3.00pm

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